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Urban tree management system

IPT has developed a software program, called Urban Tree Management System – SISGAU, to assist city governments, parks and condominiums in managing their trees.

SISGAU is a web platform tool intended to assist in tree management. The system sets up an inventory of existing trees with relevant information for the creation of strategies to manage specimens.

The characteristics that can be inventoried include Biological Health, which involves a detailed listing of phytopathogenic organisms such as fungi, termites, woodworms and ants. The presence of these organisms can be listed according to the part of the tree where they occur, enabling better control of treatment processes and allowing for a study of the distribution of these organisms in the tree.

Figure caption: SISGAU – Urban Tree Management System

Internal and external defects of trees that may affect the stability of specimens are also listed, enabling studies about risks of tree falls.

Additionally SISGAU enables crosschecking data about each tree against data of other specimens to obtain information about termite life habits and about the vulnerability of each tree to this insect. This information is extremely important for forecasting a pattern of attack by these insects and the damage they cause.

This information management system allows the client to establish intervention priorities. In also reduces costs, since tree maintenance crews can be sent to locations where pruning or removing trees is necessary to avoid accidents caused by falling trees.

A Mobile System for Urban Tree Management – SIMGAU was developed to facilitate field data collection. SIMGAU allows field data to be collected for tree inventories using a Pocket PC or a SmartPhone, enabling the user to collect more accurate and reliable information. Inventory data are recorded and stored in SISGAU via WebService for subsequent manipulation.

The system provides remarkably easy access to queries and insertion of data. In both cases, all it needs is that the user be connected to the Internet and use a Web navigator. Hence, information is not restricted to only one user, but can be shared with everyone who uses the software, and is also accessible anywhere at any time.